


caught in a decaying orbit

by Tiara_of_Sapphires



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Facial Shaving, Hand Jobs, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-23 23:41:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17089940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiara_of_Sapphires/pseuds/Tiara_of_Sapphires
Summary: Rey was the conquering hero. Kylo Ren was in a cell and the Resistance was victorious, but it left her wanting.





	caught in a decaying orbit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [redbelles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/redbelles/gifts).



> This is the Reylo FF Anthology: After the Blazing Fire Dies prompt fill for redbells!  
> Prompt: Rey and Kylo, picking up the pieces after the war. Bonus points for h/c on both sides; for example, Rey having emotions about how the adults in Kylo's life failed him, while totally ignoring her own trauma.  
> I hope you enjoy!

“You do realize I trust you, right, Rey? …Rey?”

Finn snapped his fingers in her face, bringing her back to the present. Her mind had wandered again, as it had been for the past several days, to the man in the cage deep within the base.

“I’m sorry, Finn. What was that?”

Finn sighed, used to his Jedi friend being so absentminded.

“Just about everyone wants Ren’s head on a plate and he’s not helping his case. Only Leia and you are the ones keeping him alive at this point.”

Rey flinched as if he had slapped her.

“And you?”’

It was a dumb question. As if Finn had any reason to want Ben to live; he still had nightmares of the lightsaber fight, of his back sliced open.

Finn shrugged. “You know my opinion. I don't like him, especially after _Starkiller_. But, well, I used to be First Order, right? The Resistance could’ve killed me the moment I arrived, but they gave me a chance.”

He paused and shrugged again.

“And you like him.”

Rey opened her mouth to tell him off but Finn lifted a hand to stop her. “Please, I’m not dumb. You and Ren have your—” He broke off to wiggle his fingers in the space between them. “Force stuff.”

That was one way to put it. Leia and Finn, and, by extension, Rose, knew about the bond she shared with Ben. It was a carefully guarded secret, kept from the rest of the Resistance. If they had known, while the war was in full-swing, she would have been forced to use it as a weapon. And she knew in her heart she wouldn’t have been able to do it.

Now, the bond was cold. It was an artificial chill, the Force-suppressive collar around Ben’s throat effectively cutting him off from her and the rest of the Force. She missed it; she couldn't lie about that.

“Have you talked to him yet?” Finn asked.

Rey shook her head. “Not since he arrived. He wouldn’t even look at me.”

Days. It had been days since _Kylo Ren_ surrendered to the Resistance and the First Order fell. Finn wasn’t wrong that by virtue of Leia’s influence and, to a smaller degree, Rey’s, he was still alive.

She could sense the resentment and anger against him roiling in the Force, among almost everyone in the base. Though very few could rightfully confess that he had personally killed their friends or family, he was the extremely convenient target of their hatred.

“Are you going to try again?”

She could only shrug.

Finn continued. “Well, if anyone could convince him to stop being an uncooperative asshole, it’s you.”

Rey sighed. “Thanks for the pep talk, Finn.”

Finn slapped her shoulder jovially. “No problem, my friend.”

Finn left her alone in the hallway and she knew exactly where to go from there.

It must have just been Ben’s mealtime, because the guard was leaving his cell with a plate of food when she approached.

“Master Jedi,” the guard greeted.

A bite had been taken out of one of the fruits. That was better than usual, where the trays would come back with no indication that Ben had eaten anything. She was keeping track. She would know.

Rey sighed, watching as the guard took the tray back to the mess. That was another thing she would have to deal with, huh? She already faced an uphill battle trying to get him to talk, now she had to get him to eat?

The Resistance wanted his intelligence on whatever remnants of the First Order still existed. The more time passed, the less likely his information would have any value.

“Shall go with you, Master Jedi?” the other guard asked.

It wasn’t out of a patronizing concern—which Rey couldn't help but anticipate—but rather hatred for their prisoner. Rey almost didn't want to dignify that with a response, but resolutely shook her head.

“No, he can’t hurt me.”

Everyone knew that. Locked in a cell, the shackles around his wrists and the collar around his neck, he was as effective as an infant in causing any real trouble.

Her hand drifted to the lightsaber at her waist before unclipping it and setting it on the table.

She didn't want to be a threat to him, not an obvious one at least. And there was the tiny part of her, the consummate survivalist, that feared he would steal her lightsaber and kill her. A foolish fear, really.

“Leave us,” she murmured.

While Rey handedly outranked the guard before her through her Force abilities alone, he gave her a look like he was going to spout something about regulations and refuse her. It was no secret that just about everyone in the base wanted Kylo Ren—Ben Solo dead. This guard was clearly not an exception.

She just kept her back stiff, expression unwavering.

Before she could even consider making him leave, he exhaled in a huff.

“Fine. I will be down the hall. Besides, I’m sure you could take his head off if you wanted to.”

He was too gleeful at the prospect. She didn’t want to, and didn’t grace that comment with even the ghost of a smile.

“Thank you.”

As soon as he disappeared down the hall, Rey sucked in a breath before unlocking the cell door and stepping in.

Ben jerked at the sound, his eyes finding her immediately. There was something like expectation, then something akin to shame following close behind. She couldn't understand why.

Despite the cold air in the cell, he didn't shiver.

She remembered the gently burning fire and the bridging of their minds, the ethereal becoming visceral. She had been small, defeated at the time, grasping for something solid. He had been just as shaken.

Now, Ben was reduced and she was strong. It should’ve been a relief, after the months and months of them on opposite sides of the battlefield.  Instead, it made her feel sick. She didn't want this. She wanted to meet him as an equal, something more than this.

She snapped out of her thoughts, realizing that she had been staring at Ben, who started to shift nervously under the scrutiny, his eyes no longer on her. He couldn't hear her thoughts, just as she couldn't hear his, the bond cold.

Another strength she had over him. This was not what she wanted, not that.

“You aren’t eating,” Rey said, just loud enough for him to hear.

Ben kept his eyes trained to the ground, mouth in an unmoving line. Rey wished she could reach out and touch his mind and get him to understand.

“You need to eat, Ben. Prisoner or not.”

His chest moved up and down, like he wanted to laugh but refused to let it escape his mouth. “At least you admit I’m a prisoner.”

He even looked like a prisoner, with loose, plain clothes. He looked strangely vulnerable with his feet bare and crossed at the ankles.

“You _did_ surrender to us.”

A gust of breath out of his nose, lips pursed in a frown. He didn't like to be reminded of that, clearly. She couldn't imagine why. It had been a voluntary thing, an unmarked cruiser landing outside the base. Ben had thrown down his lightsaber in the face of dozens of blasters, dropping to his knees in a meditative position.

He was ready to die, expected it even, if his position was anything to go by.

Because Rey was there, they didn't execute him. He wasn’t a threat. Even though he had thrown up a wall between their bond, she could feel his resignation. All of his other emotions and thoughts were muted. Perhaps it was to block himself from her to hide his shame.

“They’re going to poison me,” he said.

“No. You know your mother would never allow that to happen.”

He winced at the mention of Leia, who was currently away, overseeing the capitulation of First Order-controlled worlds and their reabsorption to a democratic society. People were willing to orbit around Leia, bastion of what had existed before the war.

“She doesn’t know everything,” Ben stated. “Someone could decide I’m not worth keeping around anymore. Plenty of poisons people could use to kill me.”

“While it isn’t the point as to why you’re still alive, we need you. You still could have valuable information about the First Order.”

Another grimace.

“I deserve to be here,” he said flatly. His hands were closed into fists. “In a cell.”

“I don't think so.”

For the sake of his family, he both deserved to live and to die. The death of Han Solo was still a sore point, even to her. Though, now her opinions were a bit more nuanced, a little less idealistic.

Yet another thing she was forced to become in the face of war.

“Do you need anything?” Rey asked.

He regarded her with suspicion. Did she look at him like that when their minds had been bridged? She probably did. Had it hurt him then as much as it hurt her now?

“I’m trying to help you, Ben.”

He gritted his teeth.

“I don't deserve help. I don't deserve anything.”

Rey supposed if she was a different person, she would have given up. Maybe if their minds hadn’t been bridged and she didn't care as much as she did, she would have. But she was patient. She knew what she wanted, even though sometimes she wouldn’t get it in the end.

Wasted years, looking for her parents, for nothing. This could be the same, but there was a small part of her believed that something similar wouldn’t happen.

“You’re wrong, Ben. You know it’s true.”

His mouth curled in a grimace. He couldn't look at her anymore and she wanted to kneel down into his field of vision, forcing him to face her.

Another want, something to be pushed away. And she did, turning back towards the door.

“I will see you later,” she said.

She refused to feel a rush of something that came when a tiny hitch of his breath danced through the stagnant air.

“Wait.”

She stopped and turned around. For someone with such a big frame, he looked very small where he sat against the wall.

“You want information, right? That’s why I’m still alive.”

Rey nodded, not speaking.

Ben hesitated, before offering, “There’s a cache on Fellucia. Mostly arms, but officers could use it as a safe house, if they’re still alive.”

Rey nodded, allowing herself a small smile.

“Thank you, Ben.”

* * *

The intel was good, though some were suspicious of the source. Rey quashed their grumbling. Why would they waste their time keeping a Force-sensitive First Order official in their prison if they weren’t going to trust the information he gave?

She returned to the cell a few days after the raid. Half a fruit had been consumed, the rest untouched. Better than the last time she was there, but, not by much.

“Thank you, Ben.”

He seemed surprised by the praise.

“For what?”

“For the information you gave us. We had a successful mission.”

That seemed to pique his interest. “Was there fighting?”

She shrugged. “A little. Nothing we couldn't handle.”

His mouth twisted, hands curled into fists. “Okay.”

Was he disappointed that she wasn’t offering more information? Or concern that there was fighting to begin with?

The stubble covering the bottom half of his face was getting longer. Nobody had been shaving him; the best courtesy for him was getting corralled into a sonic so he wouldn’t reek as he wasted away in his cell. No water showers for the First Order prisoner, no matter what kind of information he gave.

“Is there anything else you can tell me, Ben?” she asked.

He looked down at his feet again, then up to her.

“We have many more caches throughout the galaxy.”

“And you know of them all?”

His lips quirked a little. “Of course, I do. But I don't know all the ones the Resistance has raided yet.”

Rey crossed her arms over her chest. “So, you want information in return?”

He nodded. “Just a list of Resistance raids. Where they were and what was taken, Jjst to narrow things down.”

That seemed like a reasonable request, but she knew that next to nobody was going to allow Ben to have access to that intel, even though he had no way of transmitting that information to the First Order.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Sure enough, the request brought a storm of debate in committee, stalling any sort of decision.

Two days later, she returned with a razor, whatever shaving cream she could borrow from Finn, a small towel, and a tub of water. She also had a datapad, which she left by the door.

“What are you doing?” Ben questioned.

The answer should have been obvious to him, but she kept her voice as light and nonchalant as she answered him, “You need to shave.”

Now, he recoiled, flat against the wall like a startled animal. “Why?”

“Why? Because you look ragged.”

She offered him a small smile, trying to show Ben that she didn't mean to harm him. It stung that he didn't trust her but he had no real reason to trust her. She was part of the Resistance, after all.

A mumble under his breath. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Come on, Ben.  Don’t be difficult.” She inched a little closer. “Come on.”

A gust of air rushed out of his nose before nodding.

“Fine. If you slit my throat, it’ll be a blessing.”

She twitched. “Don’t be morbid, Ben. You know I wouldn’t do that to you.”

The first touch of her slathering the shaving cream on his cheeks had him tensing, like he had forgotten what a comforting touch felt like. Rey felt her stomach flipping as she took the razor and gently slid down his cheek.

His hands stayed planted in his lap, tilting his head obediently as she ran the razor over his face, dipping the towel in the water to clean off the hair and bubbles.

They were really close. She could kiss him if she leaned forward just enough, but she bit back the urge. They were never this close on Ahch-to, in the hut and that had been the most intimate moment she had ever shared with someone.

That had been almost two years ago, followed by two years of chasing and running from each other, of accidental connections through the bond that always ended in yelling and bitterness.

And now they were here. Her hands touched his face and she could feel his body heat radiating off of him. The scar that traced down the right side of his face stood almost too-bright against the pallor of his skin.

Ben was oddly relaxed, or at least the most relaxed she had ever seen him. His shoulders slumped a little and he leaned slightly into her touch.

“One day, you will be able to leave here,” she murmured, taking the razor away as the last of his facial hair was shaved off.

The acidic resignation was almost palpable, enough to almost make her recoil. “I will hurt people if I leave this cell. I told that to the General and now I’m telling you.”

He said this as if he hadn’t been the model prisoner the entire time he was there. He never lashed out at the guards, even though they, without a doubt, wished him dead. He sat solemn and often unmoving.

“I don't think so,” Rey said lightly.

She wiped the stray hairs away from his face with the towel, not thinking about the line of his jaw she could feel under her fingers.

“There. All better.”

His hands moved up to touch his face and felt her work. She remembered touching his hand in the hut, feeling the raw connection in the Force.

She eyed the collar around his neck and wished to pry it off. Not just out of pure disgust that he was cut off from something integral to his life, but also something more selfish.

“Thank you,” Ben said.

Rey got up and retrieved the datapad. “Here’s our most recent efforts against the First Order. I’ve decided this is the right course of action.”

Ben held the device awkwardly in his hands, his lips pursed in thought.

“And does the rest of the Resistance approved of you giving me this information?” he asked.

She shrugged. “They don't need to know.”

His eyes perused the screen as he mumbled, “Well, you have been thorough.”

“We have to make sure something like the First Order won’t rise again. The Rebel Alliance made the mistake of not fully stifling the Empire at the end of the Galactic Civil War. We aren’t going to let that happen this time.”

He nodded. “Smart move. I would also pay special attention to these systems.” He pointed to a few systems in the list. “Their governments were especially friendly to us and we gave them good deals in exchange.”

The conversation continued from there.

Ben made his notes in the list, adding a few insights that would definitely give the Resistance an advantage in a post-war galaxy.

Ben seemed oddly tickled by the concept. “First, I surrender, and now I sing all of the First Order’s secrets like a Kiros Bird. You should’ve dug that razor into me while you had the chance, before the bounty hunters get to me.”

He smiled, like they were sharing a private joke that he found funny but she didn’t share in that sentiment.

The meetings came almost daily, after that.

She would bring him food personally and watch as he began to eat more and more. Sometimes, she would bring her shaving supplies when his facial hair was starting to get scruffy again.

He could’ve been shaving himself. They both wordlessly acknowledged that fact, but when she would set the tools in front of him, he would always hesitate, waiting as if asking her a silent question. It was never for permission to shave himself, but asking for her to shave him.

She would do it without question. It would make her stomach do funny things each time she did it, but she secretly loved it. She didn't let herself think on those particular feelings too hard.

She also didn't think too much on the way Ben would look at her while she shaved him.

In exchange, more intel on the First Order. A little tidbit, here and there.

They orbited around each other. Or, rather, Ben remained stationary while Rey couldn't help but return to him again and again, trying to keep a respectable distance but inevitably gravity would push them together.

* * *

Fear kept her awake after two months of Ben’s captivity on the base.

She feared of the time when they would run out of use for him. After that Rey would have to make a choice that could make her a traitor to the Resistance.

But she couldn’t allow herself to think about that, not now. She was still a symbolic figure for the Resistance, though now the war was over.

The rebirth, the beginning.

One day, she would have to venture and become the Master Jedi she was supposed to be, whatever that meant. What she would be leaving behind and what would remain beside her, she didn't know.

If she left while Ben was still there, the chances of his never leaving the cell alive would only grow.

She knew what she _wanted_ , but what could she actually have?

The day came when she asked Finn to cover the security holos the next time she was in Ben’s cell. That was the one thing she needed to do, outside of dismissing the guards at his cell. She couldn't do this alone.

“Finn. I’m so close to breaking through to him. I can sense it. He’s just making excuses because he's afraid of the future.”

Finn regarded her suspiciously. “What is this about, Rey?”

“He needs a little push and nothing’s going to happen if we’re being watched,” Rey insisted.

She made the decision that she had been treating him too gently and not pushing him enough towards the light. He was still in that between-place, refusing to make a decision of how he was going to live the rest of his life.

Finn made a face.

“Please don’t tell me you’re gonna do what I think you’re gonna do,” he sighed.

Rey felt heat rise to her cheeks.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Finn gave her a look, like he had his own thoughts on the matter that he wouldn’t dare speak aloud.

“Well, I’ll do it. Because I love you, Rey. And I know you aren’t a dummy. I just, well, I’m sure as hell not looking at the security holos.”

Okay, she wasn’t going to argue with him about that one.

Rey could feel her stomach flipping and turning as she entered the cell after dismissing the guards.

“Is something wrong?” Ben asked.

She realized she had an expression on her face that could only be construed as upset, so she quickly schooled it to something akin to neutrality.

“I am worried Ben. About you.”

Shock flashed across his face before turning to something like indifference.

“I don't see what there is to worry about. I am safe and fed in this little room,” he mumbled, patting the metal floor.

“And you want to be like this for the rest of your life? Caged like an animal?” she pressed, stepping closer to Ben.

“It’s what I deserve in life, isn’t it? Everyone seems to think so.”

Rey gritted her teeth before forcing herself to relax a little. “You know I don't think so.”

She dropped to a crouch, so she was eye-level with Ben. “Snoke is dead. Hux is dead. You are free if you allow yourself to be free,” Rey said.

Ben looked her up and down, his jaw tensing. “I don’t believe you.”

She crawled a bit closer to her, enough that she could touch him if she reached out. “You could attack me right now if you wanted to. But you aren’t.”

Dismay bloomed across his face. “I wouldn’t attack you,” Ben hissed, insulted by the mere idea of it.

“And you wouldn’t hurt anyone else in this building, not unless they threaten you first.”

Ben’s lips turned up in an attempt of a smile. “Of course.”

“So, there is no reason why you can’t petition for your release.”

Whatever smile he had dropped to a thin line. “I don't think I would get it, even if I asked.”

“I could petition on your behalf,” she insisted. “Force, Ben, Leia would help as well.”

He blinked, startled. “You would?”

“Ben, I’ve been doing that this entire time.”

She had been scooting herself closer and closer, almost subconsciously. She had been viscerally drawn to him and now the pull was unbearable.

His eyes were on her face, watching her mouth and her eyes.

“I’m here for you, Ben. It doesn’t have to be like this all the time. You can leave this cell, have a life on your own terms.”

He seemed entranced for a moment, before words came to him.

“I suppose. But where would I go?”

 _With me_. The response jumped to her mouth almost immediately. They could go together, find the Force-sensitive people in the galaxy.

Her hands found his, cradling them.

Ben leaned forward, a breath away from her face. Neither fully giving or taking. Rey realized how impatient she was. She had wanted this for an untold amount of time and it was so close.

She closed the distance with a sigh, her lips meeting his. He gasped in return, pushing into the kiss just enough to get Rey shuffling even closer. Her hands now rested on his shoulders, body wedged between his spread legs.

This man, though a bit wasted from his imprisonment, was still strong enough to pin her down and fuck her into the floor if he wanted to, Force abilities or no.

Instead, he kept himself on his knees, leaned into her as they kissed. His hands gripped the front of his shirt, shaking, like she would disappear if he let go.

“ _Rey_.” A supplication, an abdication.

She wanted to pry that damned collar around his neck to connect her mind with his again. She wanted to free his throat so she could suck a bruise into it. This was another want, but something she couldn't have yet.

She could take something now, and she would take it.

She nipped at his lower lip, pressing herself closer. One hand fisted the front of his shirt, the other cupping the back of his head, fingers threading through his hair. It was oily, needing a wash again, but she didn't care.

She could clean him later. She could advocate that he was changing, that he deserved a proper shower.

Later, though. That would have to come later.

“ _Please_.”

Pressed so close, she felt his excitement against her belly, hard and desperate. Her knees shook as she crouched between his spread legs. She rocked forward onto her knees, the metal harsh against her skin, but it was a small price to pay. It got her stable, able to focus on Ben shaking in her arms and not on losing her balance.

There was so little time and too much uncertainty.

Before she could change her mind, her hands traveled down, digging into his torso and dragging down to the space between his legs. Muscle memory though it wasn’t a memory and more of a dream.

It was something she had thought about since the hut, in distant grabs of desire that was both his and hers. She wasn’t expecting anything to happen when she came in the cell, rather she believed it to be an errant wish.

She fumbled with the fastenings on his pants, shoving them down just enough that his cock peeked out. His breath hitched into her mouth, kissing her with a new fervor. Neglected, body and soul, finding comfort again.

She licked her lips, hand wrapping around him to pull him out of his pants. Warm, soft, hard, all at the same time. She was on fire, her insides liquid. Slowly, she slid her hand from base to tip, back down.

Ben made a garbled noise, his hips twitching up into her grip.

“Please.”

She covered the plea with her lips, kissing him until they were both breathless. Her hand slid up and down over him, twisting so he was twitching up into her hand, hips rocking up and down, as if showing her what it would be like if he fucked her.

She broke off to breathe, looking at the red spots high on his cheeks, the glassy expression in his eyes. She probably looked just as debauched.

Rey wanted to put her mouth on it, just to have a taste, but she found herself addicted to his lips.

She jacked him off until he wasn’t kissing her but rather just panting against her mouth. He chanted her name under his breath, a plea for release.

Rey gave it to him and he came in her hand with a low groan. His hands still held her shirt, skimming down between her hips before Rey gently pushed his hands away.

She pulled out a scrap of fabric and cleaned her hand and his stomach and his softening cock. She felt like she was melting but forced away the urge.

Ben, now limp, shuddered at her touch as her hands touched his face tentatively.

“You will take me with you?” he asked, voice impossibly small.

* * *

The next day, she took him for a walk around the base.

It took a lot of yelling and debate to get her permission to do so. The shackles and collar would still be on, no question about that. People steered clear of them, waiting only until they had passed before looking. It was like she was parading around a captured animal, or maybe a prize she just won.

Nobody dared approach her to gloat or congratulate her. She wanted to pretend that this was entirely normal, but that was impossible. She had won; he had lost. It wasn't as simple as everyone else made it seem. She knew better.

Rey took Ben by the elbow and lead him to the courtyard outside, studiously shutting out the suspicion and tension that weaved in the Force around her.

He blinked at the sunlight.

“I had almost forgotten what this felt like,” he murmured.

She squeezed his arm lightly.

“It feels good.”

He reached his hands out, the sun shining on his fingertips.

Rey squeezed his arm, just hard enough to let him know that, though there were dozens of eyes on them, she would kiss him if she could.

Then, she realized there was nothing stopping her, a heady, irresistible feeling.

The chorus of gasps that rang out when she bounced onto her toes and pecked him on the mouth made it entirely worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Soft Reylo is Best Reylo imo  
> All feedback and love is appreciated!!


End file.
